Chrysalis

Rassan'tep looked out over the assembled masses of insect monsters and tasted the air with his tongue. Across the bond he could feel the minds of his attendants stir with trepidation. They had not expected to see so many. In the lead of the insect formation an enormous specimen, larger than the kaarmodo even, stood to attention, it's gleaming carapace reflecting the light of the embers that fluttered through the air in this stratum. Altogether the sight was an impressive

[Lend me your eyes,] he commanded, [let us examine them together.]

The setsulah, led by Ammon'sil, pooled their thoughts, allowed their mana to flow together before they collectively wove their spell and brought it back, laying it over their eyes. With their senses overlaid, the kaarmodo accepted the stimuli they provided and fed his own back into the collective. Immediately each of them shifted in place as the ant army in front of them blazed with a richness of energy that they had not expected to see. More than that, there ebbs and flows that should not be. The big one at the front, there was something… odd. Rassan'tep concentrated hard and even then he could just barely grasp the edges of that strange eddy, a curious ripple in the fabric.

[Release.]

The spell was allowed to unravel and the seven of them contemplated what they had seen.

[Speak your thoughts,] he invited his bond servants. [Do not stand on ceremony.]

Ammon'sil spoke first, as was his right.

[There are more than we expected to see, and they are more highly evolved than anticipated. This force is not to be underestimated.]

[The tier six has a core bursting with energy. Should it evolve again, it may even develop to the mythic stage,] Rapsep, wife of Ammon spoke next.

surprise evident in the

see as clearly as we have. I believe that they may still think us to be a vastly superior force. It may be wise to consider retreat,] the youngest, Yuwan'sil said, which caused the others to turn and stare

rumbled, [I asked that you speak your thoughts, did

did, Old One,] Ammon'sil

not arrive at this assessment, or ignore it even if that have. This is the brash attitude of the young and it should not surprise us. How can we expect them to know better? They have but a mere

kaarmodo considered for

outsider, the standoff between the two forces, still over a kilometre apart, would have looked bizarre. Neither side moved. Not a muscle, or a twitch. The insects, as was their way, stood in perfect ranks, motionless, as if carved from stone. Likewise, the kaarmodo, with the patience born of their long lived nature and their reptilian ancestry did not

have been given a task by the Mahaan, so we shall carry it out,] he declared at last. [I will speak with the others and see what their

shared with his bondservants and expanded a bridge out toward the other kaarmodo who quickly latched onto the mana weave. Thankfully communicating via thought was so much faster other methods, they could

of our opponent. They stand between us and the garden that we have been ordered to destroy and it

was formed of adolescents and young adults, the hierarchy wasn't clear. As a result, dozens of minds leapt forward at once, creating a clamour as they competed

monsters shall

can think to compete

must obliterate them

some level of caution may

piled in on as